Espio's Nightmare
by Endigo Master
Summary: Espio the Chameleon tried to forget his days at the Ninja Academy. He didn't want to remember the hell he had to go through. Now, he is being forced to face it by the one he wanted to forget most of all: the one he had to kill. R
1. Default Chapter

Espio's Nightmares  
  
Summary: Espio the Chameleon tried long and hard to forget about the past. He didn't want to be haunted by the hellish days spent at the Ninja Academy where he trained. Now, the memories are rushing back to him as he is attacked by someone related to the person he never wanted to remember: the one he killed.  
  
Chapter One  
  
Chaotix Detective Agency  
  
Espio lunged up, his hand at his neck. It was the third time in as many nights that he woken up in the early morning. He found that his body was covered in sweat and his head was booming. The latter was most likely caused by Vector's insanely loud headphones. Panting, the chameleon swung his leg over the side of his bed and fell into his boots from the top bunk. He checked on his smaller friend, Charmy, before heading downstairs.  
  
He checked the answering machine to see if their were any messages. There weren't any. He stepped into the kitchen and poured himself a bowl of cereal. He cursed under his breath when he found they were out of milk. He pulled on a light jacket and stepped out onto the snow covered ground. As he headed for the mini mart down the street, he began to think about the dreams he had been having.  
  
The correct word would be dream, since it had been the same each night. Every time, he was back at the academy. Specifically, he remembered three things. The first was the day he arrived and meeting his teammate and roommate, Spex, who was a chameleon like him. Second, a day eleven months later, when they found out what their final assignment would be. And third, when he had to? Espio stopped himself. He was sick as it was. The chameleon found himself at the mini mart door, but he decided to forget about eating. He figured he would just retch it back up.  
  
Instead of returning home, he decided to take a walk to the small strip of sand that Station Square considered a beach. On the way, he remembered the good days before ninja training. Hanging out on Angel Island, scaring the others with his natural camouflage ability, picking fights with people he had no chance of beating.  
  
Then he thought about his first encounter with Knuckles. He had just gotten the shit beaten out of him by someone he knew he shouldn't mess with, so when the echidna found him, he had helped him survive by getting him to a hospital. After his first adventure with the Chaotix and taking part in the tournament to find the world's strongest, Knux had suggested Ninja Academy.  
  
Espio walked down the pier slowly and sat down at the end. Far offshore, he could see Big the Cat sitting in his tiny fishing boat, doing exactly that. His amphibious friend Froggy sat next to him, flicking his tongue out whenever he saw a fly. The purple ninja sighed, wishing his life could be as simple as the feline's.  
  
The chameleon got back to his feet and continued to walk through the city street. A weak smile came onto his face as he passed by the Spotlight nightclub. The entire building was shaking from the loud music. The people inside reminded him of the early days, the happy looks on their faces.  
  
Suddenly, he jumped back as a katana buried into the cement where the reptile had been standing. He looked to see that a teenaged, female chameleon was holding onto the blade. Her skin was a dark blue, dyed black on her shoulder blades. She was wearing a black tank top and pants, a pair of red sneakers on her feet. Her hair, which hung loose about a quarter of the way down her back, was dyed silver.  
  
The thing that stood out the most was the girl's earring, which was hanging from her left lobe. It was an amber cube, a diamond hanging from the bottom. In the center of the amber, there was a small ruby. Espio took notice of this because it was what Spex had worn before the final test. The chameleon asked, his voice cracking, "Who are you?"  
  
The girl paid him no attention as she pulled her katana loose from the sidewalk. While she returned it to the sheath hanging on her back, she turned back to the Chaotix member and said, "Hello, Espio. I've heard so much about you in the past few months."  
  
"Who are you?" he said again, not wanting to mess around. He wasn't in the mood to get his head messed around with by some kind of assassin.  
  
"Your as pushy as Spex said you would be.' a shock came to the purple chameleon's expression, putting a smile on the other's. "So you do remember my brother?" the color drained from Espio's face. "Didn't know he had any relatives? Thought he was an orphan like you?" a shuriken came flying at the hero's head, who was barely able to dodge it. "You must not be as good at fighting as he said though. This should be over fast."  
  
She was about to charge at Espio, when a voice boomed out, "Stop this at once, Cress!" they both looked up to see a large chameleon standing on top of a nearby rooftop. He couldn't see what he looked like, but the detective could tell it was a male. "How dare you come out here and attack Espio when your brother specifically asked you not to do so yet?"  
  
"How can you agree with him right now, Gares?!" she yelled back to him. "This is the guy who tried to kill our brother! Don't you want him killed?!"  
  
"Of course I do, but like Spex, I plan to make him suffer first. Now come, Cress. Let this fool live his last few days."  
  
"Of course, my brother." her icy blue eyes gazed upon Espio, "But first?" she ran at the chameleon and kicked him hard in the chest, sending him flying through the soundproof windows of Spotlight. "Now we can leave." the two assailants disappeared to the sounds of screams coming from the shocked dancers within the dance club.  
  
Espio tried to get to his feet, blood beginning to run down his body. He took in a deep breath before falling back to the ground, unconscious.  
  
To be continued? 


	2. Chp 2

Chapter Two  
  
Station Square- Hospital  
  
Espio groaned as his eyes flickered open. The ceiling was slowly spinning into sight, seemingly miles away. The chameleon tried to get up, but found he was being restrained. Once his sight became clear again, he found that his body was covered in bandages. He also realized that every part of his body felt like it was on fire.  
  
At that moment, the events of last night came rushing back to him. The dream, the girl, the assault, everything. He remembered what they had said. Spex was alive. If it was true, he knew that his friend would be out for revenge. 'How could it be?' he thought to himself. 'I killed him. I didn't want to, but I made sure of it.'  
  
The door, which he couldn't see as it was right next to his bed, opened, and a short man walked in. He was wearing a surgical uniform, so, when the chameleon saw him, he figured that he must be the doctor. His head was reminiscent of a cue ball, except for thin amount behind each of his ears. His eyes were a bright yellow, which gave a slight, friendly glow to his face. "I see you've woken up." he said, smiling. "You're pretty lucky to have made it. By the time you arrived, you had lost most of your blood. We worked a long time to help you, but we were able to get you through."  
  
"Wh-what time is it?" Espio questioned, his voice weak. "Where are my friends?"  
  
"Relax, relax." the doctor said. He checked something on a nearby monitor as he finished. "We found your card in your jacket. Your friends from the Chaotix Detective Agency have been waiting to see you for the past few hours. If you're up to it, I'll send them in."  
  
"Sure. I d-don't want them worrying about m-me." the doctor, who the reptile saw was named Hems, went to get the Chaotix members. Espio decided that he would have to be straight up with his friends. If he had their help, he would probably be able to find out who this new Spex was.  
  
"Hey, Espio." Vector said, having entered the room without the chameleon noticing. He was followed by Charmy and an unexpected face.  
  
"M-Mighty? Is that you?" he whispered. He was shocked to see his friend had dyed his fur a dark red. "Haven't seen you in a few years. Where you been?"  
  
"Hey, buddy." the armadillo chuckled. "I was hoping to see you again, but not like this. After we teamed up, I decided to rest a little bit and, uh, dyed my fur. It was to match my shell."  
  
"That's c-cool." Espio tried to pull himself up, but he was held back by a restraining bar. "Do you mind taking this thing off?" Charmy flew over the bed and unlocked the bar. As it hissed up, Espio slid back and propped himself against the wall behind him. "Must have been shaking around if they had to restrain me."  
  
"So what happened?" the Chaotix leader asked. "People don't get thrown through windows for fun."  
  
Espio sighed. "You guys know how I don't like talking about my days at the Ninja Academy? Well, last night, it came back to haunt me. Before I get to that, I need to tell you about Spex. At the academy, we each had a single partner, who was also our roommate. Spex was mine. We became the best of friends, enjoying the same victories, consoling each other in shared defeats. If it wasn't for him, I would probably wouldn't have made it out alive. That was all before our final test. A fight to the death with our partner. We fought, I threw him off the edge of the mile high platform we battled on, and I graduated."  
  
"So how does that connect with to last night?" the bee questioned, surprised by his friend's story. Espio told him about his assailants, Cress and Gares. "How can someone you killed be alive?"  
  
"I'm not sure, but I have to get out of here." the chameleon tried to get up from his bed, but his friends stopped him. "What are you doing?"  
  
"You're crazy to think you can fight in the condition you are in!" Mighty shouted. "You can barely stand, let alone go after a vengeful ninja!"  
  
"Besides, if we stand guard, nobody will get close enough to hurt you. Then, when you get better, we can all team up and go together."  
  
"No!!!" the ninja shouted, pushing his friends away. He struggled to his feet on the opposite side of the bed to his friends. "If you aren't willing to help me now, than I'll do it alone. Ninja Leaf Swirl." a gust of wind surrounded the chameleon and when it was gone, so was Espio.  
  
To be continued 


	3. Chp 3

Chapter Three

The chameleon finally fell, having run for hours already. Espio's camouflage wore out, his broken body laying still on the forest floor. His head was filled with the events of the past twenty four hours. Spex was alive, his friends wouldn't help him, and he was lost in the woods. He wasn't sure, but he was starting to think this had been a mistake. However, he refused to let himself fall. He had to keep going.

The chameleon was struggling to his feet when he heard a chuckle from the trees. He looked around, pulling into a defensive stance. He didn't hold it long though, for he felt a sharp pain in his side, which caused him to fall back to his knees. He coughed, asking shallowly, "Wh-who's there?"

He heard the chuckle again, this time followed by a reply. "Chill out, dude." with that, a squirrel fell from the trees, landing in front of Espio. His fur was a light gray, and he had an overbite that jutted out of his mouth. There was a smile on his face, and one of his eyebrows was raised, as if he was expecting something. "How ya doing, Espio?"

A shocked look appeared on the chameleon's purple face. "How… d-do you know m-my name?"

The squirrel's smile got bigger. "Well, cause you Chaotix members are all that Mighty talked about when Sonic and I were working with him."

Espio realized who this must be. "R-ray the squirrel?"

He chuckled, saying. "Ray the Flying Squirrel. But yeah, that would be me. The question is, what the heck are you doing all the way out here?"

"I was…" but before he could finish his statement, he fainted, falling forward.

Chaotix Detective Agency

Mighty pulled his armor jacket on, picking up his knapsack, which was filled with Espio's equipment. The two other members of the Chaotix watched on, trying to reason with the armadillo. Vector began, "Come on Mighty, think about this. Espio needs to rest, not fight. Bring him back."

The red armadillo sighed. "Sorry, Vec, but when I find Espio, I'm helping him. I know he's just being stubborn and stupid, but what do you expect? It's Espio, someone with one of the hardest heads ever. Once he has his vision set on something, there's no changing it." the armadillo looked through the sack one more time. "You're sure this is all of his stuff?"

Vector hesitated a minute, before sighing and saying, "Yeah, that's all of it." Mighty slung it over his shoulder, turning towards the exit.

He looked back, saying, "Don't worry, guys, I'll make sure that our friend stays in one piece." Mighty then looked back the way he was heading, sighing. "I swear it." with that, Mighty walked down the steps, followed by the eyes of the Chaotix until he was too far off to see.

TBC…

"Alright, here's the thing. I know I haven't been keeping my promise, but I've been really busy with things, and, well-"

"cough PSP cough"

"Shut up, you damn fox!"

"Maybe you should stop threatening me and start writing more chapters."

"GYAGH!"

One chain sawing later…

"Seriously, though, I have two chapters written, I just need to find the gumption to type them. Also, I'm working on an Artemis Fowl/ Supernaturalist crossover, so, yeah… well, goodnight, folks." 


	4. Chp 4

Chapter 04

Angel Island- Echidnopolis- Slums

"She's not pleased that you stopped her. Of course, when is Cress ever pleased."

Gares cleared his throat, before addressing his brother, who sat in the shadows of the decrepit bar. "You know how much she hates Espio. The mercy you're showing him, she's convinced your rage has dulled. I find it necessary to ask-"

"Trust me, it hasn't," Spex interrupted, a coin flipping between his metallic fingers. In the dim lighting, it was all Gares could see of his younger brother. "Yes, my first intention was to just kill him as soon as we found him, and the madness of being unsuccessful for so many years made me into quite the hellion towards you two, but now… praise that article, though, eh?"

Spex was referring to the story in the Station Square Tribune about the world renowned 'Sonic Heroes', of which the Chaotix was considered. He'd gone into a fit o hysterical laughter upon reading about that. The notion of Espio as a hero was preposterous to him.

"Why the mercy, brother?"

The metal-clawed chameleon stared dully at his brother, dim blue eyes burning holes in him even through the darkness. "Because he jokingly offered it to me. Right before he killed me."

Route 99 Forest- Ray the Squirrel's Hutch

Ray let out a long whistle as Espio completed his tale; the soup he'd served himself hadn't been touched since the chameleon had begun. "That's messed up, dude."

A weakened smile played its way onto the ninja's lips. "Please, be more specific. It's not clear anymore what part of it's normal."

"None of it as far as I could tell," Ray admitted, leaning his chair on its back legs, "but the worst part is that your bros wouldn't back you up. Sure, you're beat up, but I hear ninjas are supposed to be able to work like that, no problem."

"Don't mind the part where I killed my best friend?"

"Apparently, you didn't do that, so don't worry too much on it. Right now, you should be focused on finding this guy, Spex, since he obviously wants you dead. And take it from me, vengeance is a motha."

Espio smiled a bit wider and said, " I've got to say, I've known you a day, and by comparison, you're the best friend I've got."

"Promise not to try and kill me," Ray laughed, but cut himself off at the sudden drop on the chameleon's face. "Sorry, man. I guess that was an unnecessary shot. So, uh… any ideas on where to find Spex?"

"Somewhere on Angel Island." Espio perked back up at his own comment. "And if that's the case, then there's one person who can help me."

"Who?"

"Sometimes, it's good to be friends with the Guardian."

To be continued…

Sorry for taking such an extremely long break from this story. However, as it's clearly my most popular forgotten story, I'm bringing it back.


End file.
